I was able to adopt this vintage Gund Bumble Bee at a really nice price on ebay. He arrived to me safely and I started to work on him Yesterday...
Upon inspection, he was missing his antennae, he has some rust stains on his chest, and some paint missing on his eyebrows, and tip of his nose. He didn't have any odors, but I figured maybe if I washed him it could help to remove the rust stains. I placed him into the washer on medium load and as soon as he was done. I immediately took him out to air dry. His wings came off, and he needed to be reformed on his head and body, because from the spin cycle, his body became misshapen. I left him to air dry for 24 hours. Then, today, I began the restoration process...
I started with his wings first. It was basically two layers of felt material. So, I decided to add pipe cleaners into it, in order for the wings to keep its shape and help with posing too. I was able to separate the layers. Then add four pipe cleaners twisted in a wing shape. Then, I re-glued the layers together. I set the wings aside, and began working on his antennae. I had black felt and black pipe cleaners. I shaped and cut the pipe cleaners into the size that would be nice and began sewing the felt around the pipe cleaner. I took some yellow puff balls, since I didn't have black ones and had sewn them onto the tips of the felt. I left one end of the antennae opened in order to sew them onto the sides of the Bee's head.
They fit perfectly! I decided not to glue his wings on, but sew them in place. Sadly, since washing him, he was losing a lot of his fur, but at least the rust stains were gone. He had some areas missing patches of fur too, darn. But, he still looked nice. I added a yellow ribbon and some pink Forget me nots. Last, I touched up his nose, and eyebrows with dark brown acrylic paint and sealed. Last, I bent his arms and legs in a pose I wanted. I'm thinking, I may change the ribbon to baby blue, to bring out his eyes...
Before above, and after. You can see his fur is a lot brighter, and his antennae looks nice considering its not all black in color. He will live with my other furry friends for now. I'm very pleased with the way he turned out. He was fun to restore and I'm very proud I was able to give him back his missing antennae.
I ordered a few more Mohair pieces and they arrived to me safely also. I got more of the Aqua 2" pile, along with baby pink, and turquoise. I know I could use them for furries or as backgrounds in my photos. I love how lush the fur is, and how deep their hues are. Next, I got a lovely romper fashion for my dolly from Endangered Sissy on Etsy. I've always wanted one of Pam's rompers and this was the last set available. Now, to take out one of my dollies to try it on!! Last, I won this wind up US mail box coin bank, on ebay!! I have seen it before on IG from a fellow collector. So, to finally have this piece is just awesome, and it still works!!
Basically, you place the coin on the red dot and the weight of the coin is suppose to start the winding mechanism to make the hand inside the mail box come out, and take the coin into the mail box. But, I have to push onto the red button deeper to make it start. Mostly, because I have to figure a way to set the button a bit higher. I'll figure it out later... I love his big eyes, the mustache, the over all look of the toy. I didn't realize how small it was too?! He's only about 5 inches tall. Just cute and adorable. He will be added to my collection as well...
I hope to have some items in next week for the shop, so visit back later. Have a great weekend everyone!
Thank you for reading! ~ ggsdolls
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